Safety razor



July 6, 1943.

' F. J. MEHL SAFETY RAZOR Filed March 51, 1941 Fla]. 1

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 July 6, 1943. F. J. MEHL 2,323,881

SAFETY RAZOR Filed March 31, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 F1948 6 1 7 2-5 a" ll'"' "W" Q fll W d? if 20 E949 21 20 1 19410 Fit/.1

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Patented July 6, 1943 SAFETY RAZOR Fred J. Mehl, Wichita, Kana, assignor, by direct and mesne assignments, of thirty-seven and one-half per cent to Ulysses G. twenty-five per cent to Guy 0.

Wichita, Kans.

Charles, and Boling, both of v Application March 31, 1941, Serial No. 385,996

14 Claims.

My invention relates to a safety razor, and has for its principal object to provide a carrying plate having a plurality of blades carried thereby in parallel and spaced relation.

A further object of my invention is to provide replaceable blades, and a removable cap as accessible means to the blades.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a facial guard having a plurality of diagonally positioned slots through the guard uniformly spaced apart subdivided with respect to their length and being in staggered relation, the slots extending over and around the side edges of the guard to function as a comb, and a plurality of blades spaced apart and slantingly positioned oppositely to the slant of the slots to contact the underside of the guard, and means to actuate the blades for gyratory movement.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a safety razor that will underclip hair of a long growth, and means for a second clipping as the head of the razor is advanced, resulting in a close shave.-

A still further object of my invention is to provide in a motor -driven safety razor, a frame to carry the encased mechanical arrangement in such a way so that the same may be removed from its casing for inspection or to replace or repair any portion thereof.

These and other objects will hereinafter be more fully explained, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, and in which like characters "will apply to like parts in the different views.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a sectional view through the casing to illustrate the interior arrangement of the imvention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on line 2-4 in I Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig.' 3 is an inverted view of Fig. 2, showing the eccentrics actuated by the outer gears, there being a plate'to which said discs and gears are journalled.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of Fig. 3 including the blade carrying plate and tensioning spring for the plate.

Fig. 5 is a reduced similar view to that of Fig. 4 showing blades positioned on the plate.

Fig. 6 is a side view of the structure, an intermediate portion being removed for lack of space to illustrate its entire length.

Fig. 7 is a plan view of the guard.

Fig. 8 is an edge view of the razor casing, partsremoved for convenience of illustration.

, and spring.

Fig. 10 is an end view of Fig. 9.

Fig. 11 is a plan view of one of the blades.

Fig. 12 is an end view of the blade.

Fig. 13 illustrates a modified form for the apertures of the facial guard.

Fig. 13-A is an enlarged end view to illustrate the method of seating the end of the blade in the wall of the plate carrying means for the blade.

Fig. 14 is an end View of the casing, the cap being removed and showing a modified form for the blades and plate as arranged for rectilinear movement.

15 is a plan View of a modified blade carrying plate with blades transversely crossing the plate.

Fig. 16 is a sectional View through the head of the structure as modified ior gyratory movement of the blade carrying plate.

Fig. 17 is an end view partly in section, taken' on line il-i'l in 16.

Fig. 18 is a sectional view taken on line i8i8 in Fig. 16.

Fig. 18-3 is a fragmentary plan view of a triplet blade assembly, also the method of securing the ends of the blades.

My invention herein disclosed consists of a casinc 0, in which-is positioned actuating means for shav ng blades, said casing having sides, edge walls, and one end wall, the other end having a removable cap 22 comprising edge and side flanges A and B, respectively, each side flange having an ear 0 extending downward as shown in Fig. 6, each ear having an aperture to engage a catch 3 that is embossed outward from the side wall of the casing whereby when the apertures of the ears are brought to engagement with the outer ends of the catches the cap will be held to snug engagement on the end of the casing. Each ear at its outer extremity is turned outward to provide gripping means to disengage the cars from the catches for removal of the cap. The cap is straight and smooth on its inner surface against which shaving blades will engage reciprocatingly as later described. Said cap has a plurality of apertures 2 therethrough in closely by spaced relation and uniformally distributed across the cap, said cap functioning as a facial guard while hair will extend through the apertures and be clipped beneath the plate.

It will be seen that slots 2" along their respective sides of the cap extend downward through the flanges and are in registry with simiarrangement provides casing sides to receive long hair passing therethrough and being clipped by the blades. Being so arranged, long hair may be clipped as the guard moves thereunder and the face may be smoothly shaven as the apertured cap moves over the surface thus clipped.

It will be seen in Fig. 13 that the head has several rows of elongated slots 3" slantingly positioned and with the slots in adjacent rows' in staggered relation to each other. The slanting for a shearing action between the sides of the slots and the blades when the hair extends through the slots.

Extending through the end flanges of the cap and their adjacent edge walls of the casing is a series of slots A and A" respectively to function as an exit for hair as clipped.

Removably positioned in the casing is a frame structure consisting of a head 4 and a head 5, said heads being spaced a short distance inward from their respective ends of the casing, and being connected by a pair of side plates 6 oppositely disposed, the ends of which are seated in their respective heads by notching the side edges of the heads as shown in Fig. 2 as at D, said frame being removably secured in the casing by a suitable means.

Between head and its respective end of the casing is arranged a socket comprising end walls I seating on an insulation plate 8 that is secured to the head while the side walls of the socket are formed by the outward extension of the side plates 6 of said frame, said socket being lined with insulation 9.

Positioned in the socket are prongs ID to be engaged by a cabled plug as connecting means to an electric current, said plug and cable not shown, said prongs being carried by the insulation plate, extending therethrough and to which ourrent conductors I l are connected, said conductors running through an opening centrally positioned in said head 5, to conduct current to an electric 'motor l2 that is secured to one of said plates 6,

and axially aligned with the casing longitudinally so that the drive shaft l2 of the motor is directed toward the cap of the casing.

On the inner side of head 4 is a master gear 13 that is secured to the drive shaft of the motor, and a pair of gears 14 oppositely disposed diametrically and in mesh with the master gear,

each of said gears having a ball bearing l5 secured in the head and to their respective gear spindles I6 and motor shaft in the conventional way to avoid excess friction while being driven by the motor.

Secured to the end of the motor shaft l2 and being on the outer side of the head is a disc II, the diameter of which is suillcient to envelop the ball bearing of the shaft, and likewise a disc [8 for each gear spindle as means to avoid hair clippings from entering the bearings, said discs be- I ing secured to their respective spindles and rotatable therewith to function as a crank through the medium of a pin l9 eccentrically positioned in each disc, said pins seating in an aperture 20 of their respective end of a plate 2| to produce gyratory movement of the plate. Theouter side of each disc slopes from the eccentric pin across the disc as shown at E in Fig. 1 to avoid frictional engagement with its adjacent side of the plate as the disc rotates. Said plate is depressed on its side opposite the discs whereby side walls F and end walls G are formed, the end walls each having an opening H therethrough as an ,as heretofore described.

Each of said end wallsof the plate have a plu- I rality of studs 22 outwardly extending therefrom as rigid carrying means for cutting blades 23, each blade having a notchJ in each end thereof tosnugly' receive its respective stud to carry the blade with the plate in its gyratory movement. All end and side edges of'the blade are sharpened by beveling the blade from its underside upward and outward, whereby the cutting edges will frictionally engage on the underside of the facial guard portion of' the cap to accomplish a shearing cut of thehairs as they pass through the apertures or slots of the cap. It will be understeod that as the blades are removably connected to the plate, the same may be replaced by other blades should the same become dull or worn excessively, however, the frictional engagement of the blades with the underside of the apertured cap is a means to automatically sharpen the edges of the blades. The said blades are tensioned to engagement with the cap through the medium of a spring arranged in such a way as to move the plate toward the cap, which inturn will cause smooth engagement of the blades with the underside of the can This I accomplish by a leaf spring 24, each end of which is bifurcated, the legs K of which are adapted to engage in an annular groove L adjacent the outer. end of its respective pin as a seat for each end of the spring while the center of the spring is engaged by a clip 25 that passes thereover, said clip being secured to the plate as lifting means therefor under the tension of thespring. The

thereto to extend inward toward the spring to engage in an aperture punched through the spring, by which means longitudinal movement of the spring is avoided, and the said spring may be removed by pressing the same downward at the clip to disengage the stud at which time the spring may be movedlongitudinally in one direction as the depth of the bifurcation is sufficient to release the ends of the legs as moved from a pin, and when on end of the spring is disengaged, the spring may be removed from the clip by a longitudinal movement of the spring in the other direction.

It will be understood that the said pins l9 are journalled in their respective ends of the blade carrying plate for gyratory movement thereof as each end of the plate-is moved in the same di-' rection simultaneously, the pins being journalled in the plate said plate i free to move toward the outer ends of th pins as tensioned by the spring.

In Fig. 2 is shown a counter-balance weight M for each disc pin that is oppositely disposed to the pin but carried by its respective disc gear, it being understood that the said gears and their respective discs are rigidly connected together The purpose of the weight is to counter-balance the disc pins and their respective ends of the blade plate to avoid [excess vibration under high velocity of the discs restricted to such movement alone as said plate may be moved rectilinearly by the arrangement shown in Fig. 14, in which case the blade plate slides between the side walls of the casing, re-

ciprocatingly from one end wall of the casing to the other through the medium of a pin 2! cccentrically carried by a disc 28 as shown by dotted lines, the disc axially secured to the end of a motor shaft 29, said pin adapted to engage in a transverse groove III in the plate, the groove beplurality of blades 23" may be'placed transversely of the plate and spaced apart as shown in Fig. 15.

In Figs. 16, 17, and 18 is illustrated a modified mechanism for gyratory movement of the blade carrying plate that is accomplished by a crank 3i secured to the end of a drive shaft 32, the crank having a pin 33 on one end, and a counter-balance weight 34 for the other end, the pin'pivotedly engaging through a block 35 that slidably engages between transverse parallel bars 36 of a carriage by which means longitudinal movement of said plate is accomplished as the carriage is adapted to move on longitudinal ways for'longi tudinal movement of the plate, while the block carrying the plate isadapted to move transversely as the shaft rotates. The combined movements of the carriage and block is means to move the plate gyratorily and retain the longitudinal axis of the plate in parallelism with the sides of the casing. It will be seen that the carriage is guided by a pair of rollers 31 spaced apart at each end of the carriage to avoid friction and to maintain a transverse position of the bars to the plate as the rack reciprocates.

In Fig. 18B is shown a modification of the blade carrying plateand means of securing the blades to the plate, in which case the side walls of the plate are removed consequently the end walls of the plate are relied upon to carry the blades and having studs 38 to engage through an aperture in the ends of the blades. This arrangement provides ample cutting at the ends as well as at the side edges of the blades. The studs fitting snugly in the apertures of the blades is means to avoid interruption of the hair in the cutting movement of the blades, and the said blades being beveled on each edge slanting downward and inward may be seated in 2. corresponding form in the end wall as shown in Fig. lit-A.

Such other modifications may be made as lie within the scope of the appended claims.

Having fully described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patentis:

i. In a safety razor comprising a casing and an apertured rectangular cap for one end of casing, a removable frame positioned in the casing, said frame comprising a head at each end thereof positioned a short distance from each end of its respective end of the casing, and a plate for each side of the frame to which the heads are secured, a plurality of fiat blades spaced apart and engaging on the inner side of the apertured cap, a carriage element for the blades, means to secure the blades to said carriage element, discs spaced apart and rotatably mounted on the frame head adjacent the apertured cap, and pins eccentrically fixed to said discs as carrying means for the carriag element, a gear connected to each disc, a rotatable drive shaft carried by the frame and a gear carried by the shaft to turn first said gears. the apertured cap being greater in width and length than the carriage element to provide for a gyratory movement of th element beneath the apertured cap.

2. In a safety razor comprising a casing, a frame removably carried in the casing, a drive shaft having a crank rotatably carried by the frame, a plate positioned in the casing adjacent one end of, the casing, an apertured rectangular block secured to the plate, said drive shaft crank engaging in the aperture of the block to move the plate in a gyratory motion, and a carriage slidably engaging with the sides of said casing and receiving said block to move the plate in a uniform gyratory motion, an apertured cap secured to said end of the casing, and a plurality of elongated blades secured on the plate to enga against the inner side of the apertured cap.

3. In a safety razor comprised of a casing with an apertured cap on one end thereof, said cap comprised of a straight rectangular portion and flanges to engage over the side walls of said casing, said straight portion being finely apertured over a major central portion of its surface and having slots parallel with the straight portion on opposite sides of the apertured major central portion, a plurality of straight elongated blades engaging the inner side of said apertured cap, a

movable plate, and means to secure the blades to said movable plate.

4. In a safety razor of the class described; a casing substantially rectangular in form comprised of sides, edges, and ends, and a removably arranged'apertured cap for one end of the casing; a frame removably placed in the casing, the frame having carrying means for an electric motor and its drive shaft; shaving blades and carrying means therefor; and a mechanism operated by the drive shaft to impart movement to the carrying means and shaving blades in parallelism with the end of the casing but in rotary motion, said mechanism comprising a gear secured to the drive shaft and gears carried by the frame in mesh with first said gear, discs having pins eccentrically fixed thereto on which the carrying means is mounted, and means to secure said discs to said second said gears to turn the same.

5. In a safety razor, a casing and an apertured cap for one end of the casing, a movable cutting element in contact with the apertured cap, said element comprising a plurality of elongated blades spaced apart and in parallelism with each other and a plate to carry the blades, a frame positioned in the casing, a pair of gears rotatably mounted on the frame and spaced apart, a drive gear mounted on the frame between the first said gears and in mesh therewith to turn the same, eccentrically positioned means mounted upon each first said gears to carry the plate in a circular gyratory motion, the plate being decreased in width and length from that of the apertured cap to provide for said circular gyratory motion 6. In a safety razor, a casing rectangular in cross section comprised of sides, edges and one end wall, and a removable apertured cap for the other'end of the casing, a frame removably carried in the casing, said frame comprised of two side plates and a head for each end of the side plates, said heads being spaced inward from their respective end of the casing, the frame being the carrying means for a motor and drive shaft, the drive shaft being journalled in the head adjacent the apertured cap and extending through said head, a gear secured to the shaft adjacent the inner side of last said head and a pair of gears the medium of their respective spindles extending through said head on which last said gears are journalled, and a disc secured to each spindle and to the drive shaft, the disc for the drive shaft to function as concealing means for the end of the drive shaft as journalled in the head, each of the first said pair of discs having an eccentrically positioned pin carried thereby, a plate being bored at each end to register with the pins respectively and being engaged thereby for circular gyratory movement of the plate, and

shaving blades removably carried by the plate in close proximity to the underside of the apertured cap of the casing.

'7. ma safety razor as recited in claim.6, the plate being depressed, and a spring seated in the depression beneath the blades as tensioning means for the blades to the underside of the apertured cap.

8. In a safety razor as recited in claim 6, the plate being depressed to form sides and end walls to function as a receiver for hair in the process of shaving, the end walls being spaced from the bottom of the depression as an exit for the hair.

9. In a safety razor of theclass described, a casing comprised of sides, edge walls, and one end wall, an apertured flanged cap to close the other end of the casing, said cap being removably secured to said end, a removable structure positioned in the casing as carrying means for an electric motor and its shaft, said removable structure having a head spaced inward a suitable distance from said cap, a series of gears positioned on the inner side of the head, one gear being secured to the drive shaft, and being in mesh with the other gears as turning means therefor, and a series of discs positioned on the other side of said head and axially connected with the series of gears, eccentrically positioned pins secured to the discs of the other gears, and a plate extending across the gears and journalled on the pins whereby gyratory movement is im parted to the plate as the discs rotate, shaving blades having oppositely disposed cutting edges for each blade, means to removably secure said blades to said plate, means to space the blades from the plate, spring means carried by the plate to urge the blades in close contact with the underside of the apertured cap for the purpose specified.

1 positioned'in the casing as carrying means for an electric motor and its shaft, said removable structure having oppositely disposed heads, one head having supporting means for electric insulation and prongs extending toward the opening in the adjacent end wall of the casing, a plate positioned adjacent the outside of the other head,

said plate being similar in contour to said head f but smaller in length and width to provide for circular gyratory movement of said plate, eccen trlcally positioned means positioned on the shaft to impart circular gyratory movement to the plate, and a rectangular block carried by the plate to receive 'the eccentrically' positioned means, and rack means engaging slidably with the sides of the casing, being carried by the eccentrically positioned means to support the block for'gyratory motion thereof, shaving blades removably carried by the plate and means to space the blades from the plate, and spring means carried by the plate to urge the blades into close contact with the underside of the apertured cap for the purpose specified.

11. In a safety razor, a casing substantially rectangular in cross section, an apertured cap secured to one end of the casing, a plate positioned adjacent the apertured cap, a drive shaft and a frame positioned in the casing on which the shaft is mounted, said plate being similar in contour to said apertured cap but less in length and width to provide for circular gyratory movement of said plate, means positioned on the drive shaft to carry the plate and move the plate when the shaft turns, means engaging the last said means to maintain the plate and its adjacent apertured cap in parallelism with each other, and shaving blades carried by the plate in close contact with the underside of the apertured cap.

12. In a cutting element for a safety razor, said element comprising a plurality of blades, each blade having a pair of oppositely disposed cutting edges, each blade presenting a plane surface transversely and longitudinally on one side and on the other having a marginal portion of each side and end bevelled outward toward said plane surface to form the cutting edges, and a plate and means to carry the blades in spaced relation on one side of the plate, and the straight sides of the blades being outward from the plate.

13. In a cutting element for a safety razor, a

plurality of straight fiat blades each having ends and oppositely disposed cutting edges at one side of the blade, and a plate having means to carry the blades in spaced relation thereon, the plate being straight on one side and depressed on the other side, said blades being carried on the depressed side of the plate whereby a major portion of each blade length is spaced'from the bottom of the depression.

14. In a cutting element for a safety razor, a rectangular plate being fiat on one side its entire length and width and a marginal portion of the other side being raised to a plane outward from the said other side portion of the plate to form a seat for the ends of blades, and a plurality of cutting blades carried by the seat thus formed and being in spaced relation therealong, each blade having cutting edges oppositely disposed, and means to removably secure each blade to the seat.

' FRED J. MEHL. 

